Apparatus and method for dimensional metrology

ABSTRACT

Generating a machine tool program for performing coordinate measurements. The machine tool program may be communicated to a machine tool controller such that the machine tool controller is operable to execute the machine tool program. The machine tool program may be generated from a dimensional metrology program. As part of generating the machine tool program, a path definition and a machine definition may be combined. Measurement data resulting from an execution of the machine tool program may be received by a data server and analyzed using dimensional metrology analysis. Indicators may be provided within the machine tool program to be used during dimensional metrology analysis.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority under 35U.S.C. §120 to U.S. Ser. No. 10/687,861 filed Oct. 17, 2003, entitled“APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR DIMENSIONAL METROLOGY”, which is hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to dimensional metrology, andmore specifically to the generation and/or execution of coordinatemeasurement programs for machine tools.

DISCUSSION OF RELATED ART

Dimensional metrology is used to measure the conformity of a workpieceto its intended design. Coordinate measurement machines (CMMs), bothcontact and noncontact, have been used to gather dimensional data on thelocation of points, edges, planes, surfaces and other part features.Operators and engineers analyze the dimensional data to determine howclosely a workpiece matches its design. Various analysis tools, such asdimensional metrology software packages, aid the operators and engineerswith this analysis.

Outfitted with a sensor, a CMM can be controlled by a CMM application tomeasure numerous points on a workpiece and to provide enough raw data toinvestigate the dimensional metrology of the manufactured piece and itsfeatures. As illustrated in FIG. 1, a CMM application running on acomputer 102 issues commands that control the movements and measurementsperformed by a CMM 104. Typically, the control of the CMM 104 isinteractive, that is, measurement data returned by the CMM 104 isanalyzed by the CMM application, and subsequent commands provided by theCMM application are based on an analysis of the returned measurementdata. Historically, CMM investigations (e.g., using a CMM 104 and a CMMapplication running on a computer 102) have been performed off-line,that is, away from the machine shop floor and in an area with awell-controlled environment. As such, CMMs were used more for qualityassurance, rather than in-process as part of manufacturing processcontrol.

More recently, there has a been a move toward integrating coordinatemetrology into the manufacturing process. As part of this trend, CMMsare being moved to the shop floor and used between manufacturing stepsto analyze parts and processes. This strategy can lead to a betterunderstanding of both the causes and results of machining errors and canalso reduce waste by flagging non-conforming parts earlier in theprocess.

Even with CMMs integrated into the manufacturing process, however, theact of removing a workpiece from a machine tool and fixturing it in aCMM for coordinate measurement can cause undesirable delays and changesto workpiece geometry. For example, removing a thin-walled or flexiblepart from a machine tool puts the part into a free state, andcorrelating measurements that are obtained after re-fixturing the partcan be difficult or impossible. Large workpieces also presentdifficulties as a CMM must be large enough to handle the workpieces, andthe fixturing and unfixturing of the pieces can take substantial timeand effort.

Because of these delays and problems associated with moving in-lineparts to CMMs for coordinate measurement, an even more recent trend hasbeen to perform coordinate measurement while workpieces remain fixturedin a machine tool. In some cases, non-contact methods, such as laserscanning are used. In other examples, contact methods are used, in whichthe machine tool is outfitted with a touch sensor and is operated in amanner similar to a CMM to perform measurements on the workpiece.Because a CMM requires a large capital investment, the use of anexisting machine tool for coordinate measurement can be desirable inmany cases.

Historically, some limited gathering of dimensional data has beenperformed on numerical control (NC) machine tools using short,preprogrammed measurement commands. For example, Renishaw® macrosrunning on a machine tool controller can take certain fairly simplemeasurements of features on workpieces. The number and types ofmeasurements available by calling on Renishaw® macros are limited tofairly basic part investigations such as measuring a bore diameter andcenter location using a 3-point or a 4-point bore measurement. SomeComputer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacture (CAD/CAM)Applications provide commands in a machine tool program that initiatethe preprogrammed measurement commands (e.g., call Renishaw® macros).

A coordinate measurement software package developed by Xygent, titledXactCNC, is able to control a machine tool to gather sophisticatedcoordinate measurement data. In a manner similar to the CMM 104 and theCMM application running on the computer 102 described above inassociation with FIG. 1, XactCNC operates through the execution of aprogram on a computer to send commands to a measurement device. Unlikethe system shown in FIG. 1, which can only send comments to a CMM,XactCNC additionally is able to send machine tool commands to a machinetool controller so that a machine tool can perform coordinatemeasurements.

A typical XactCNC system 200 is illustrated in FIG. 2, including amachine tool 202 outfitted with a contact probe 204. A computer 206,executing a coordinate measurement program, controls the machine tool202 to move the probe 204 along a measurement path for performingcoordinate measurements of a workpiece 208. The XactCNC package isexecuted on the computer 206 to translate a single command of a CMMprogram into a single command for a machine tool controller 210. Via acommunication cable 212, the machine tool command is transmitted to themachine tool controller 210 to effect a movement or a measurement. Afterthe movement or the measurement, data is fed back to the computer 206via the communication cable 212. XactCNC then analyzes the returneddata, determines a subsequent CMM program command, translates the CMMprogram command into a machine tool command, and communicates themachine tool command to the machine tool controller 210. XactCNC is ableto send comments to the machine tool controller by substituting amachine tool device driver for a CMM device driver. The machine toolcontroller 210 acts in a passive manner in that the control program isremotely executed on the computer 206. Commands are communicated fromthe computer 206 to the machine tool controller 210 throughout theexecution of the program, sometimes as often as every command.Similarly, data generated on the machine tool controller 210 iscommunicated to the computer 206 throughout the execution of theprogram, sometimes in response to each measurement. In this manner, oneinstance of the XactCNC software controls one machine tool to gathercoordinate measurements.

SUMMARY

In one illustrative embodiment, a method comprises an act of generating,from a dimensional metrology program, a machine tool program includinginstructions to control a machine tool to perform coordinatemeasurements. The machine tool program is executable on a machine toolcontroller.

In another illustrative embodiment, a system comprises a programgenerator to generate, from a dimensional metrology program, a machinetool program including instructions to control a machine tool to performcoordinate measurements. The machine tool program is executable on amachine tool controller.

In a further embodiment, a computer-readable medium is provided havinginstructions stored thereon that, as a result of being executed by acomputer, instruct the computer to perform a method. The methodcomprises an act of generating, from a dimensional metrology program, amachine tool program including instructions to control a machine tool toperform coordinate measurements. The machine tool program is executableon a machine tool controller.

In another embodiment, a system comprises means for generating a machinetool program from a dimensional metrology program. The machine toolprogram includes instructions to control a machine tool to performcoordinate measurements, and the machine tool program is executable on amachine tool controller. The system also comprises a communicationmodule to communicate the machine tool program to the machine toolcontroller.

In a further embodiment, a method comprises acts of generating a machinetool program that includes instructions to control a machine tool toperform coordinate measurements, and analyzing coordinate measurementdata generated by execution of the machine tool program usingdimensional metrology analysis. The machine tool program is executableon a machine tool controller.

In another embodiment, a system comprises a program generator togenerate a machine tool program including instructions to control amachine tool to perform coordinate measurements. The machine toolprogram is executable on a machine tool controller. The system alsocomprises a dimensional metrology analysis module to analyze coordinatemeasurement data generated by execution of the machine tool program.

In a further embodiment, a computer-readable medium is provided havinginstructions stored thereon that, as a result of being executed by acomputer, instruct the computer to perform a method. The methodcomprises acts of generating a machine tool program includinginstructions to control a machine tool to perform coordinatemeasurements, and analyzing coordinate measurement data generated by anexecution of the machine tool program using dimensional metrologyanalysis. The machine tool program is executable on a machine toolcontroller.

In another embodiment, a system comprises means for generating a machinetool program including instructions to control a machine tool to performcoordinate measurements. The system also comprises a dimensionalmetrology analysis module to analyze coordinate measurement datagenerated by an execution of the machine tool program. The machine toolprogram is executable on a machine tool controller.

In a further embodiment, a method comprises an act of generating, from adimensional metrology program, a self-contained machine tool programthat is executable on a machine tool controller to perform coordinatemeasurements without interaction with a program generator.

In a further embodiment, a method comprises an act of generating, from adimensional metrology program, a machine tool program includinginstructions to control a machine tool to perform coordinatemeasurements. The act of generating is performed independently from anymeasurement data received from a machine tool controller.

In another embodiment, a method comprises an act of generating, from adimensional metrology program, a machine tool program includinginstructions to control a machine tool to perform coordinatemeasurements. The method also comprises an act of providing at least oneindicator within the machine tool program to be used by a dimensionalmetrology analysis module to analyze data generated by execution of themachine tool program.

In a further embodiment, a computer-readable medium is provided havinginstructions stored thereon that, as a result of being executed by acomputer, instruct the computer to perform a method. The methodcomprises an act of generating, from a dimensional metrology program, amachine tool program including instructions to control a machine tool toperform coordinate measurements. The method also comprises providing atleast one indicator within the machine tool program to be used duringdimensional metrology analysis to analyze data generated by execution ofthe machine tool program.

In another embodiment, a system comprises a program generator togenerate, from a dimensional metrology program, a machine tool programincluding instructions to control a machine tool to perform coordinatemeasurements. The machine tool program comprises means for indicating toa dimensional metrology analysis module the type of analysis to beperformed.

In a further embodiment, a method comprises an act of using aninspection planning tool to generate a dimensional metrology program.The method also comprises an act of generating, from the dimensionalmetrology program, a machine tool program including instructions tocontrol a machine tool to perform coordinate measurements.

In another embodiment, a method comprises an act of executing a machinetool program including instructions to control a machine tool to performcoordinate measurements to produce coordinate measurement data. Themethod also comprises analyzing the coordinate measurement data with adimensional metrology analysis module. The method further comprisesgenerating an additional machine tool program to perform one or both ofmachining and coordinate measurement.

Other advantages, novel features, and objects of the invention, andaspects and embodiments thereof, will become apparent from the followingdetailed description of the invention, including aspects and embodimentsthereof, when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,which are schematic and which are not intended to be drawn to scale. Inthe figures, each identical or nearly identical component that isillustrated in various figures is represented by a single numeral. Forpurposes of clarity, not every component is labeled in every figure, noris every component of each embodiment or aspect of the invention shownwhere illustration is not necessary to allow those of ordinary skill inthe art to understand the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art coordinate measurementmachine;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a prior art machine tool outfitted witha contact probe;

FIG. 3 is a data flow diagram illustrating an example of a system togenerate and execute a machine tool program and analyze data accordingto an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of programminga machine tool controller according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a method of generatinga machine tool program from a dimensional metrology program according toan aspect of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a screen shot illustrating an example of a graphical userinterface to enable a user to create a machine definition according toan aspect of the invention;

FIG. 7 is a screen shot of a user interface for developing a dimensionalmetrology program using a computer-assisted drafting model according toan aspect of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a systemarchitecture to program a machine tool controller according to an aspectof the invention;

FIG. 9 is an example of a graphical user interface to enable a user toselect a machine tool program to communicate to a machine toolcontroller according to an aspect of the invention;

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a systemarchitecture to manage data generated through the use of machine tools;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a general-purposecomputer system; and

FIG. 12 is a block diagram of one embodiment of a storage system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

This invention is not limited in its application to the details of theembodiments set forth in the following description or illustrated in thedrawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of beingpracticed or of being carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseologyand terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and shouldnot be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or“having,” “containing,” “involving,” and variations thereof herein, ismeant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereofas well as additional items.

Historically, the measurement capabilities of NC machine tools have beenrestricted to measurements performed by macros on the machine toolcontroller. The lack of processing power on machine tool controllers hassignificantly limited the types of measurements that can be performed.

Although XactCNC addresses this issue by allowing for more sophisticatedmeasurement, and by using dimensional metrology analysis to analyzecoordinate measurement results, the measurement process employed byXactCNC is time-consuming due to the interactive communications betweenthe machine tool controller and the computer on which the coordinatemeasurement program is executed.

Performing analysis between each communication of a command also addsdelay to the measurement process.

Additionally, dimensional metrology programming typically has beenperformed by specialists using specialized (e.g., proprietary) softwareapplications. Machine tool operators typically are not accustomed to orcomfortable with using such applications. Machine tool operators,typically are, however, accustomed to using machine tool controllerlanguages such as those that use G and M codes and/or the proprietarycontroller codes of machine tool controller manufacturers. Thus, atypical machine tool operator is more comfortable modifying a machinetool program on a machine tool controller using G and M codes than usingdimensional metrology programming on a computer. A drawback of knownsystems such as XactCNC running on a computer is that the machine tooloperator cannot locally modify the machine tool controller using G and Mcodes, but is forced to use dimensional metrology software running onthe computer.

Embodiments of the invention disclosed herein are directed to methodsand systems of controlling machine tools to gather coordinate data fordimensional metrology investigations. In one embodiment, a programgenerator generates a machine tool program using a dimensional metrologyprogram as input. The generated machine tool program is coded in alanguage understood by the machine tool controller, for example, G and Mcodes. The generated machine tool program is executable on the machinetool controller such that once the machine tool program is present onthe machine tool controller, the program generator is not required forprogram execution. During execution, the machine tool controllercontrols the machine tool, which may be outfitted with a measurementsensor, and acquires and/or communicates measurement data. [0043]Atypical machine tool controller comprises a dedicated computer locatedat a machine tool. The machine tool controller executes machine toolprograms and translates the programs into command signals and sends thecommand signals to motor drivers or motors. Various position measurementsensors, transducers and counters return measurement signals to themachine tool controller. One example machine tool controller and machinetool combination is the General Electric Fanuc Automation CNC Unit,Series 16i used on a Miigata SPN40 horizontal milling machine.

As used herein, a “program” is a set of instructions. Such instructionsmay be defined by computer-readable instructions tangibly embodied on acomputer-readable medium, for example, a non-volatile recording medium,an integrated circuit memory element, or a combination thereof. Suchinstructions, as a result of being executed by a computational devicesuch as a computer, machine tool controller or other type of device,instruct the device to perform one or more operations. Such instructionsmay be written in any of a plurality of programming languages, forexample, Java, Visual Basic, C, C#, or C++, Fortran, Pascal, Eiffel,Basic, COBOL, etc., or any of a variety of combinations thereof. Hiecomputer-readable medium on which such instructions are stored mayreside on one or more of the components of the systems described below,and may be distributed across one or more of such components. Thecomputer-readable medium may be transportable such that the instructionsstored thereon can be loaded onto any computational device to implementaspects of the present invention discussed herein. In addition, itshould be appreciated that the instructions stored on thecomputer-readable medium, described above, are not limited toinstructions embodied as part of an application running on a hostcomputer. Rather, the instructions may be embodied as any type ofcomputer code (e.g., software or microcode) that can be employed toprogram a processor to implement aspects of the present invention.

As used herein a “machine tool program” is a program that, when executedby a machine tool controller or other suitable device, controls theoperation of a machine tool. As used herein, a “dimensional metrologyprogram” is a program that, when executed by a computer or othersuitable device, directs the acquisition of coordinate measurements fordimensional metrology analysis. Dimensional metrology programs includeprograms configured to control the acquisition of measurements on a CMM,for example programs generated by PC-DMIS® available from WilcoxAssociates.

Coordinate measurements may be analyzed using dimensional metrologyanalysis. Dimensional metrology analysis modules typically useoverdetermined objective functions to fit curves or surfaces tocoordinate measurement data. For example, a least squares regressionalgorithm or other regression algorithm may be used to fit a circle to alarge number of measured data points. Often, the algorithms are testedin compliance with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)B89.4.10-2000 standard (Methods for Performance Evaluation of CoordinateMeasuring System Software) and/or the European Physikalisch-TechnischeBundesanstalt (PTB) standard for measurement of features using a methodof least squares.

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of one embodiment of a system 300for using a machine tool to perform coordinate measurements. Programgenerator 302 accepts a dimensional metrology program 304 as input andgenerates a machine tool program 306 as output. The program generator302 may accept the dimensional metrology program 304 from any suitablesource, such as coordinate metrology applications or directly from astorage medium. It should be appreciated that the source of thedimensional metrology program 304 is not intended to be limiting. Insome embodiments, the program generator 302 and the source of thedimensional metrology program may be implemented on a single computer.In other embodiments, the program generator 302 may be implemented on acomputer separate from the source and may accept inputs via variouscommunication devices or storage mediums.

In some embodiments, the program generator 302 also accepts a machinedefinition 328 as input. The machine definition 328 provides informationabout the machine tool that the generated machine tool program 306 isintended to control. Machine definitions are described in more detailbelow with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. The dimensional metrology program304 and the machine definition 328 may be received as an integral unit,or may be received separately. Multiple dimensional metrology programsand/or machine definitions may be stored on system 300 such that adimensional metrology program and/or a machine definition may beselected from lists of dimensional metrology programs and machinedefinitions.

The program generator 302 processes the dimensional metrology program304 to generate a machine tool program defined to perform a measurementpath on a machine tool, as discussed in more detail below with referenceto FIG. 4. The measurement path defined by the generated machine toolprogram 306 may be a translation of a measurement path defined by thedimensional metrology program 304.

The machine tool program 306 may be communicated to a machine toolcontroller 308 by any suitable method, for example, by using a methodfor which the machine tool controller 308 is configured. For example,any of a variety of communication protocols, such as an Ethernetprotocol, may be used to communicate the machine tool program 306 to themachine tool controller 308. The machine tool program 306 may becommunicated to the machine tool controller 304 on a network. As usedherein, a “communications network” or a “network,” is a group of two ormore devices (e.g., devices on which the machine tool controller 308 andthe program generator 302 reside) interconnected by one or more segmentsof transmission media on which communications may be exchanged betweenthe devices. Each segment may be any of a plurality of types oftransmission media, including one or more electrical or optical wires orcables made of metal and/or optical fiber, air (e.g., using wirelesstransmission over carrier waves) or any combination of thesetransmission media. As used herein, “plurality” means two or more. It isto be appreciated that the one or more segments of transmission mediumused to communicate the machine tool program 306 to the machine toolcontroller 308 is not intended to be limiting. In some embodiments, acomputer numerical control (CNC) system, a direct numerical controlsystem, or a distributed numerical control (DNC) system may be used tocommunicate with machine tool controllers and/or control machine tools.

In one embodiment, the machine tool program 306 is self-contained on themachine tool controller 308. In this manner, further communications fromthe program generator 302 may not be required after the machine toolprogram 306 is communicated to the machine tool controller 308. Such aone-time communication may permit faster execution of the machine toolprogram 306. Additionally, limited communications requirements may freeup the program generator 302 for other tasks.

In executing the machine tool program 306, the machine tool controller308 provides control signals 310 to the machine tool 312 to performcoordinate measurements. The particular measurement path that themachine tool 312 carries out may not be identical to a measurement paththat would be performed on a CMM controlled by the same dimensionalmetrology program 304 from which the machine tool program 306 wasgenerated. During the performance of coordinate measurements, themachine tool controller 308 receives measurement signals 314 from themachine tool 312 and generates data 316 regarding the position ofmeasurements made by a sensor. In some embodiments, the sensor may be amechanical contact probe, and in other embodiments, the sensor may be anoptical sensor, a capacitance sensor, an air flow sensor or any othersuitable sensor. The data 316 resulting from the execution of themachine tool program 306 may be stored by the machine tool controller308 and may be communicated to other system modules, such as a dataserver 318. It should be noted that the particular method used by themachine tool controller 308 to control the machine tool 312 and toacquire data 316 is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

The data server 318 receives and manages the data provided by theexecution of the machine tool program 306. The data server 318 mayreceive data 316 from numerous machine tool controllers concurrently orin sequence. In some embodiments, the data server 318 sends data 320 toan analysis module 322 for data analysis. The data server 318 mayautomatically initiate the communication of data 320 and/or the analysisof the data 320, or the data server 318 may be prompted by an operatorto initiate such actions. A data server 318 is not required, and in someembodiments, data 316 is communicated from the machine tool controller308 to the analysis module 322 without an intermediary data server 318.

The analysis module 322 may be configured such that after performingvarious analyses, it outputs the analysis results in any suitablemanner. The type of analysis to be performed and the verification ofcertain parameters may be specified by indicators that are presentwithin the data 320 and/or associated with the data 320. A descriptionof indicators is provided below in association with FIG. 5.

In some embodiments, results 324 of the analysis may be used to generatemodified or new machine tool programs. After a machine tool program hasbeen executed and the data 320 has been analyzed, further machiningand/or dimensional investigation may be desired. Additional or modifiedmachine tool programs 326 comprising machining and/or measurementcommands may be communicated to the machine tool controller 308. In someembodiments, an additional machine tool program 326 is communicateddirectly from the analysis module 322, and in other embodiments theadditional machine tool program 326 is communicated via the programgenerator 302 and/or the data server 318. Such a system architecture maypermit closed-loop manufacturing in that machining can be automaticallyperformed in response to dimensional investigations and analysis, andthe loop operations may be repeated without removing the workpiece fromthe machine tool. In other embodiments, the modules described withreference to FIG. 3 may be integrated with components of a CAMapplication, such that a closed-loop cutting/measuring system may beimplemented.

It is contemplated that several of the described modules may beimplemented on a machine tool controller itself if such machine toolcontroller is configured with adequate processing capabilities. Forexample, a dimensional metrology program may be input to such a machinetool controller and program generation may occur on the machine toolcontroller. In other embodiments, the analysis module may be entirely orpartially integrated within a control panel that includes the machinetool controller if such control panel is adequately configured. Thus, ifthe machine tool controller is configured with a suitable operatingsystem and adequate processing capabilities, the program generatormodule and/or the analysis module may be integrated within a machinetool controller control panel.

System 300 and components thereof (e.g., 302, 304, 306, 308, 318, 322,326) may be implemented using software (e.g., C, C#, C++, Java, or acombination thereof), hardware (e.g., one or more application-specificintegrated circuits), firmware (e.g., electrically-programmed memory) orany combination thereof. One or more of the components of system 300 mayreside on a single system 330 (e.g., a single computer), or one or morecomponents may reside on separate, discrete systems. Further, eachcomponent may be distributed across multiple systems, and one or more ofthe systems may be interconnected.

Further, on system 300, each of the components may reside in one or morelocations on system 300. For example, different portions of suchcomponents may reside in different areas of memory (e.g., RAM, ROM,disk, etc.) on system 300. System 300 may include, among othercomponents, a plurality of known components such as one or moreprocessors, a memory system, a disk storage system, one or more networkinterfaces, and one or more busses or other internal communication linksinterconnecting the various components. System 300 may be implemented ona computer system described below in relation to FIGS. 11 and 12.

System 300 is merely an illustrative embodiment of a system operable touse a machine tool as a coordinate measurement device. Such anillustrative embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of theinvention, as any of numerous other implementations of such a system,for example, variations of system 300, are possible and are intended tofall within the scope of the invention. None of the claims set forthbelow are intended to be limited to any particular implementation ofsuch a system, unless such claim includes a limitation explicitlyreciting a particular implementation.

By providing a program that runs on the machine tool controller itself,as opposed to a remotely-executed program (e.g., a program executedremotely by a computer), machine tool operators can more effectivelyoperate the machine tool and make adjustments to the control program asthey see fit, for example, using G and M codes. The added flexibility ofallowing the machine tool program to be adjusted locally on the machinetool controller by an experienced machine tool operator may beparticularly desirable when measuring complex parts.

The machine tool program may be generated at a location remote from themachine tool and the machine tool controller, for example, by anapplication residing on a remotely located computer. Such applicationmay be configured to minimize the number of communications made to themachine tool controller before or during execution of the machine toolprogram. In fact, in some embodiments, the application may communicateinformation to the machine tool controller only once, when itcommunicates the machine tool program. In other embodiments, there maybe a limited number of communications, for example, one communication ofthe machine tool program along with transmissions of tool-offsetupdates, as is described in more detail below.

A machine tool program that is executed on the machine tool controlleralso may allow for a faster measurement process than the XactCNC systembecause back and-forth communication between the application and themachine tool controller is not required. The frequent communications ofXactCNC cause significant delays if each communication istime-consuming. In embodiments of the present invention, communicationsmay take place across complex networks or the Internet without concernfor communication times. Further, the separation of the machine toolprogram from data analysis reduces or eliminates the wait times thatwould occur if analysis were being performed on a remote device todetermine a subsequent command to be executed by the machine toolcontroller. In XactCNC, certain machine tool commands cannot begenerated until measurement data has been received and analyzed. Inembodiments of the present invention, such analysis is not required forprogram generation. In one embodiment, a program generator generates amachine tool program from a dimensional metrology program withoutperforming an analysis of measurement data as part of generating themachine tool program.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the machine tool programis capable of being remotely executed on a computer that communicateswith a machine tool controller. In such an embodiment, a sufficientnumber of commands may be placed in a queue on the machine toolcontroller so that the machine tool controller can perform lookaheadfunctions.

In one embodiment, the data provided by the machine tool controller isreceived and managed by a data server. The data server may receivemeasurement data from multiple machine tools. In some embodiments, themeasurement data from multiple machine tools may all be related to asingle workpiece that progressed through a sequential transfer line. Inother embodiments, the measurement data from multiple machine tools maybe related to separate workpieces on separate machine tools. The dataserver may also be configured to manage the analysis of separate sets ofdata such that one analysis application is capable of analyzingmeasurement data from multiple machine tools. Of course, in someembodiments, the data server or the analysis application may bededicated to one machine tool. In other embodiments, several dataservers and/or several analysis applications may be associated withmultiple machine tools. Additionally, the data server and the analysisapplication are not required to reside on a single computer, and variouscomponents may be distributed among one or more computer systems.

The data server and/or the program generator may be located remotelyfrom a machine shop workspace (i.e., the shop floor), for example, onone or more computers. By locating such computers away from the shopfloor, shop floor space can be saved, changes to the shop floorconfiguration can be avoided, and the computers are not subjected to theshop floor environment. Additionally, whereas operating the programgenerator might become the default responsibility of the machine tooloperators if the computers were positioned on the shop floor, remotepositioning can remove this default responsibility. Thus, the machinetool operator can focus effort on operating the machine tool.

Although the methods and systems described herein are not intended to belimited to a particular sequence of acts, one example of a method 400for generating a machine tool program using a dimensional metrologyprogram and communicating the machine tool program to a machine toolcontroller is illustrated in FIG. 4.

In an act 402, a dimensional metrology program is received as input. Itis contemplated that the dimensional metrology program may have beencreated separately and stored before being received as input. Forexample, the dimensional metrology program may be a program that waspreviously generated, for example, by a dimensional metrologyapplication, and stored on a storage medium.

In act 404, the dimensional metrology program is used in generating amachine tool program, such as a numeric control program (NC program) orother type of machine tool program. Act 404 may comprise translating thedimensional metrology program to a machine tool program. Certaincommands may be removed from the dimensional metrology program duringact 404, such as various interactive functions or commands. Interactivefunctions are found in dimensional metrology programs because returneddata is used to determine subsequent commands. In embodiments of thepresent invention, the entire or substantially the entire machine toolprogram is communicated to the machine tool controller in onecommunication and the program generator and the machine tool controllerdo not interact during execution of the machine tool program. Forexample, the program generator and the machine tool controller do notinteract to determine subsequent commands during machine tool programexecution. Examples of commands that may be removed include: interactivealignments; find hole; relative measurements; edge find; point find;auto-relative measure; branching logic; and so on. Some interactivefunctions or commands may be left in the program, and updates to variousparameters, such as a tool offset value, may occur during execution.

Often, the dimensional metrology program includes both move commands andprobing cycle commands. To translate the dimensional metrology programto the machine tool program, the dimensional metrology move commands maybe mapped to NC move commands and the dimensional metrology probingcycle commands may be mapped to NC probing subroutines. As discussedabove, certain dimensional metrology commands, particularly interactivecommands, may not be translated and included in the machine toolprogram. Also, additional commands not found in the dimensionalmetrology program may be inserted in the machine tool program.Indicators also may be placed within the machine tool program orassociated with the machine tool program as part of act 404 or as aseparate act.

A dimensional metrology move command typically defines a movement of asensor from a current location to a target location at a specifiedspeed. A dimensional metrology move command may be translated to an NCmove command by providing NC commands that define the same path at thesame speed. In certain embodiments, speeds and/or paths may be alteredto account for characteristics of the machine tool on which the machinetool program is intended to be used.

A dimensional metrology probing cycle typically includes severalparameters including: pre-hit; search distance; retract distance; anominal target point's coordinates; and a nominal target vector. Thedimensional metrology probing cycle may be mapped to an NC probingsubroutine. For example, a dimensional metrology probing cycle can bemapped to an NC Skip Move command. In a Skip Move command, the sensor iscommanded to move to a target point that is predicted to be beyond asurface to be measured. When the sensor triggers, it signals the machinetool controller's Skip Input command, which stops the sensor movement.The position of the sensor (determined by the measured position of themachine tool axes) at the point at which the move was interrupteddefines the surface measurement. The position data returned by the SkipMove command may be adjusted for the sensor offset or other calibrationfactors.

Because machine tool controllers acquire the positions of the machineaxes differently than CMMs, commands that allow for dual-hit probingalso may be included in the machine tool program. Machine toolcontrollers determine the position of the machine tool axes from theirservo loops. The servo loops have a loop time that may produce someambiguity as to the axes position at the time of sensor triggering. Oncea surface has been located using a fast probing speed, it may bedesirable to sensor the surface a second time at a slower speed toreduce any errors. Renishaw® probing macros include this option, andcommands that execute these macros may be included in the machine toolprogram. Other, specialized routines also may be written for particularconfigurations. It is important to note that while several NC commandsand NC subroutines have been mentioned in the above description, themethods and systems described herein can be applied to any suitablemachine tool language and/or control system.

Examples and descriptions of probing macros for machine tools can befound in various software programming manuals. For example, theInspection Plus Software Programming Manual by Renishaw® providesdescriptions, definitions and examples of measurement cycles. A measurecommand is included as part of the Siemens 840D controller set ofcommands. NC codes can be found in various NC controller manufacturerdocumentation, one example of which is the Operator's Manual for a GEFanuc Controller, Series 16i.

In addition to generating a machine tool program, act 404 may insertpass-through indicators within the machine tool program for variouspurposes. As described below, pass-through indicators can aid ananalysis module in its analysis of the data. The pass-through indicatorsmay be inserted or attached to a machine tool program during act 404 andpass through the machine tool controller without being used or altered.As part of an act 410, the pass-through indicators may be communicatedto a data server or an analysis module where they may be used in datamanagement and/or data analysis.

Other inputs may be received before or during act 404. For example, asdiscussed below with reference to FIG. 5, a machine tool definition maybe provided.

The generated NC program is communicated (e.g., posted or downloaded) toan NC controller in act 406. This communication need not occurimmediately, in fact, the machine tool program can be storedindefinitely before being communicated to the machine tool controller.The communication of the NC program may start after the entire NCprogram has been generated, or the communication of some programportions may occur concurrently with the generation of other programportions.

In some embodiments, there is one communication of the entire NC programto the NC controller. The NC program may be executed on the NCcontroller in an act 408 without further communication to or from the NCcontroller. In other embodiments, while the NC program is executing onthe NC controller or paused during execution, certain updates or otherdata may be communicated to the NC controller. For example, the NCprogram may require updated tool offset data while the NC program isbeing executed. During execution, the NC program may be paused and ashort update program may be executed. The execution of a program on amachine tool controller (machining or otherwise) typically includes anoperator to start the process. In some cases, however, execution may beinitiated automatically.

As the machine tool program progresses through a measurement path, datais generated on the machine tool controller. In act 410, the data may becommunicated, for example, to a computer or a storage medium. Asdescribed below in association with FIGS. 8 and 10, the data may becommunicated to a data server module or other location for datamanagement. The communication of the data may be achieved with anysuitable method.

Raw dimensional data from the machine tool controller may be useful onits own, but it may be desirable to use dimensional metrology analysisto analyze the data. In act 412, analysis of the data is initiated. Thedata analysis may be initiated by a server module, or the communicationof the data to an analysis module may automatically initiate theanalysis.

While the embodiments associated with FIG. 4 have been described interms of a method, embodiments of the invention also may take the formof a system or a computer-readable medium. For example, acomputer-readable medium, such as a hard drive, may havecomputer-readable signals stored thereon that define instructions, whichas a result of being executed by a computer, instruct the computer toperform some or all of the acts described in connection with method 400.The machine tool program be initiated by input received from anoperator, or in some embodiments, the machine tool program may beinitiated automatically.

Method 400 may include additional acts. Further, the order of the actsperformed as part of method 400 is not limited to the order illustratedin FIG. 4 as the acts may be performed in other orders, and one or moreof the acts of method 400 may be performed in series or in parallel toone or more other acts, or parts thereof. For example, act 410 may startbefore act 408 has been completed.

Method 400 is merely an illustrative embodiment of generating a machinetool program from a dimensional metrology program. Such an illustrativeembodiment is not intended to limit the scope of the invention, as anyof numerous other implementations of such a method, for example,variations of generating a machine tool program, are possible and areintended to fall within the scope of the invention. None of the claimsset forth below are intended to be limited to any particularimplementation of such a method unless such claim includes a limitationexplicitly reciting a particular implementation.

To facilitate a generation of a machine tool program using a dimensionalmetrology program, machine definitions may be used to define aparticular machine tool or a particular type of machine tool. Eachmachine tool may be defined with values for a set of user-adjustableparameters, and the machine definition can be used in conjunction with adimensional metrology program to generate a machine tool program.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a method 500 of receiving inputsfor performing act 404 of FIG. 4. A path definition and a machinedefinition are received by a program generator in act 502 and 504, andare used to generate a machine tool program in an act 506. A user mayselect the machine definition from a menu of previously defined machinedefinitions, or, in some embodiments, the user may provide the machinedefinition prior to program generation. The path definition may bedefined by a dimensional metrology program such as a CMM program, or itmay be defined by a computer-assisted drafting (CAD) file or applicationindependent from a dimensional metrology program. The machine definitionand the path definition may be received together as one act, or themachine definition and the path definition may be received separately asact 502 and act 504.

An example of a graphical user interface (GUI) 600 for generating amachine definition is shown in FIG. 6. Once values have been entered forthe various parameters, the machine definition may be used for programgeneration or stored in a machine definition file. Thus, the machinedefinition may be persisted and re-used any number of times to generatea machine tool program.

For example, a parameter for a measure command 602 may be provided witha parameterized string for the machine tool that is being defined, asillustrated in FIG. 6. Parameter 602 defines the command that is to beused in the machine tool program. The inputted value for the measurecommand parameter 602 may be a macro which allows substitution of the x,y, and z values when the machine tool program is being generated.

Similarly, a move command parameter 604 may define a move for themachine tool. A parameterized string may be entered as a value for theparameter 604 and the x, y, and z values may be substituted with targetvalues from a dimensional metrology program during machine tool programgeneration.

Another example of a parameter that may be provided with a value for aparticular machine or type of machine is tool offset type parameter 606.This parameter may enable the user to select from an absolute offset, anabsolute-plus-wear offset, and an absolute-plus-wear-plus-geometryoffset. The above parameters (measure, move and tool offset type) arepresented by way of example only and are not intended to be limiting.

A screenshot of a portion of a dimensional metrology program 700 beingdeveloped from a CAD model using a dimensional metrology application isshown in FIG. 7. The user clicks on various features shown in a CADdrawing 702 and selects measurement requests. From the user inputs, adimensional metrology program 700 is developed. This dimensionalmetrology program development can be achieved with various applications,of which PC-DMIS® is one example.

An additional act that may be used as part of a method to generate amachine tool program is the generation of a dimensional metrologyprogram using an inspection planning tool (not shown). An inspectionplanning tool uses a set of data regarding a part to be machined and/ora set of instructions regarding which features of the part are to bemeasured. The data and/or instructions may take the form of a file, adatabase, or any other suitable set of data and/or instructions residingon a computer-readable medium. The inspection planning tool may be usedbefore or during an act of generating a dimensional metrology program,and may be used to automatically generate dimensional metrology commandsbased on a CAD model and the data and/or instructions described above.The use of an inspection planning tool may reduce the amount of timeused to generate dimensional metrology programs as compared to currentdimensional metrology programming tools or manual techniques. The act ofgenerating a dimensional metrology program using the inspection planningtool can be implemented on a system that is separate from the programgenerator or on a system that is integrated with the program generator.

Another act that may occur as part of a program generation act is theinsertion or association of indicators (not shown) within the machinetool program. The indicators may be based on data included within themachine definition or the path definition, or the indicators may beseparately received. A first subset of the indicators may be used by themachine tool controller to verify certain system parameters. A secondsubset of the indicators may be pass-through indicators that theanalysis module can use for its data analysis. For example, apass-through indicator may provide the data analysis module withinformation regarding what type of machine tool was used to gather thedata. Another pass-through indicator may provide information as to whichparticular machine tool that was used. Indicators for the data analysismodule also may be input to the data analysis module directly, or viaother methods.

In other embodiments, an indicator may provide information to themachine tool controller to aid with verification of: the machine toolprogram identity; the work offset; feature identities (e.g., bore numberone or edge number three); indexes of the number of point measurementsfor given features; and the measurement unit system (i.e., Englishversus metric). If various identities or other verification factors donot match, error codes may be generated by the data server module or theanalysis module.

In another embodiment, indicators may be added by modifying the machinetool program. For example, a machine tool operator may insert anindicator into a machine tool program. When one of an analysis moduleand a data server received the indicator, it may initiate an update ofthe dimensional metrology program and/or the machine tool program. Insome embodiments, the insertion of an indicator may result in theaddition of a measurement of a feature to one or both of the programs.In some cases the update may be permanent, and in other cases it may befor a limited duration.

Some of the above-described methods and systems have features that allowfor various system configurations when using more than one machine toolfor coordinate measurement. One such configuration 800 is illustrated inFIG. 8 in which a program generator 802 communicates with multiplemachine tool controllers 804, and the multiple machine tool controllers804 communicate with a data server module 806.

Once a machine tool program 808 is generated, the program generator 802may communicate the machine tool program 808 to one or more machine toolcontrollers 804 via a communication module 810. Both the machine toolprogram 806 and the machine tool controller 804 (or a machine tool 812)may be selected from a menu of options as described below with referenceto FIG. 9. Data resulting from an execution of the machine tool program806 on the machine tool controller 804 may be transmitted via the dataserver module 806 to an analysis module 814.

The data server module 806 is implemented on a computer or otherappropriate computing device and can provide various services for themachine tool controllers 804 and/or the analysis module 814. Forexample, the data server module 806 may receive data 816 from themachine tool controllers 804 such that machine tool programs 806 can beexecuted concurrently on multiple machine tool controllers 804, and theresulting data can be managed in a central location, for example, on asingle computer and/or using a single application. Such data may betransmitted across a network 816. The data server module 806 may managethe data to send one data set at a time to the analysis module 814. Inthis manner, it may be advantageous that only one analysis applicationis used to analyze data from multiple machine tools 812. A data set isany group of data points that is to be analyzed during an execution ofthe analysis application. For example, a data set may include dataresulting from the execution of one machine tool program, or may includedata resulting from multiple machine tool program executions on a singlemachine tool. In some cases, a data set may include data sent frommultiple machine tools measuring a common workpiece or a common feature.

In one embodiment, the communication module 810 is configured tocommunicate generated machine tool programs 806 to the machine toolcontrollers 812. An example of a GUI 900 for choosing a machine toolprogram is shown in FIG. 9. Using such a GUI, a user can select themachine tool program 902 from a menu of programs, and initiatecommunication of such machine tool program to a machine tool controller.A GUI may also be used to select the machine tool to which the machinetool program should be communicated.

System configuration 800 is merely an illustrative embodiment of asystem operable to communicate with a plurality of NC Controllers. Suchan illustrative embodiment is not intended to limit the scope of theinvention, as any of numerous other implementations of such a system,for example, variations of system 800, are possible and are intended tofall within the scope of the invention. None of the claims set forthbelow are intended to be limited to any particular implementation ofsuch a system, unless such claim includes a limitation explicitlyreciting a particular implementation.

FIG. 10 illustrates an embodiment of a Data Server Module 1000 operableto communicate with a plurality of NC Controllers 1002 concurrently. TheData Server Module 1000 may include any of a variety of components,including any of NC Interfaces 1004, NC Interface Controllers 1006,Parser 1008, Analysis Interface Controller 1010; Analysis Interfaces1012, which may be configured to exchange information such as NCResponses 1014, Machine Info 1016, Serialized NC Responses 1018 andResponse Info 1020 as described below.

Machine Info 1016 maintains information corresponding to each NCController 1002 currently active (i.e., in the process of transmittingone or more NC Responses 1014 to the Data Server Module 1000). Suchinformation may include information about the communication channel overwhich the NC Controller communicates with the Data Server Module 1000,information about the NC Controller itself, information about the NCmachine under control of the NC Controller, and information about an NCInterface 1004 corresponding to the NC Controller 1002. Machine Info1016 may include information regarding the type of communication channelbeing used to transmit NC responses and attributes of that channel. Forexample, Machine Info 1016 may include information specifying whetherthe NC controller 1002 is communicating using a channel with a serialsingle interface, a serial dual interface, a TCP/IP interface, or a highspeed serial bus (HSSB) interface. In the case of a TCP/IP interface,Machine Info 1016 may include information regarding an IP address and aport address.

Information about the NC machine controlled by an NC controller 1002 mayinclude the type of NC machine (e.g., vertical or horizontal), the typeof axes (e.g., linear or rotary), axes identifiers and axes limits, anoffset (e.g., the offset vector from the gage point of the spindle tothe sensing point of the sensor), a sensor change procedure, and asensor enable procedure. Each NC controller 1002 may communicate withthe Data Server Module 1000 over multiple communication channels, andMachine Info 1016 may include information specifying a certaincommunication channel of the multiple channels over which to communicatewith the NC controller 1002. Machine Info 1016 may include anycombination of the information described above and may store additionalinformation.

Data may be communicated from the NC Controllers 1002 to the Data ServerModule 1000 in one or more NC Responses 1014, which may conform to oneor more NC Response protocols. One embodiment of an NC Response protocolis shown in Appendix A.

For each NC controller 1002, the Data Server Module 1000 may include anNC Interface 1004 to receive NC Responses 1014 from the NC controller1002. The Data Server Module 1000 may include a Data Analysis Controller1024 to manage the NC Interfaces 1004, and may use information includedin Machine Info 1016 to do so. NC Interface Controller 1006 may beconfigured to serialize the NC Responses 1014 received asynchronouslyfrom the NC Interface 1004 and to forward the serialized NC Responses1018 to Parser 1008.

Parser 1008 may be configured to check the integrity of each serializedNC Response 1014 and strip away certain fields within the NC Responses1014. The Parser then may send Response Info 1020 to the AnalysisInterface Controller 1006.

For each NC controller 1002 in the process of transmitting NC Responses1014 to the Data Server Module 1000, one or more Analysis Interfaces1012 may be implemented. Each Analysis Interface may maintain aconnection with the Analysis Application 1022 (e.g., a dimensionalmetrology application), which performs the analysis on the Response Info1020. The Response Info 1020 may be forwarded to the appropriateAnalysis Interface 1012 by the Analysis Interface Controller 1010, whichmay be configured to manage the Analysis Interfaces 1012.

In an embodiment, the Response Info 1020 received from an NC controller1002 is stored on a storage medium accessible to a correspondingAnalysis Interface 1012. Each Analysis Interface 1012 may be configuredto access the Response Info 1020 from the storage info. For example,Analysis Interface 1012 may be configured with an attribute that pointsto a File Object (e.g., a journal file) that stores the Response Info1020 for the Analysis Interface 1012.

The Analysis Application 1022 may be a dimensional metrologyapplication, for example, PC-DMIS® available from Wilcox Associates. TheAnalysis Application 1022 may be configured to analyze the Response Info1020, produce reports and/or update statistical databases. It is to beappreciated that a type of application other than PC-DMIS® may beimplemented by the Analysis Application 1022.

Data Server Module 1000 and components thereof (e.g., 1004, 1006, 1008,1010, 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018, 1020, 1022, and 1026) may be implementedusing software (e.g., C, C#, C++, Java, or a combination thereof),hardware (e.g., one or more application-specific integrated circuits),firmware (e.g., electrically-programmed memory) or any combinationthereof. One or more of the components of Data Server Module 1000 mayreside on a single system (e.g., a single computer), or one or morecomponents may reside on separate, discrete systems. Further, eachcomponent may be distributed across multiple systems, and one or more ofthe systems may be interconnected.

Further, on each of the one or more systems that include one or morecomponents of Data Server Module 1000, each of the components may residein one or more locations on the system. For example, different portionsof such components may reside in different areas of memory (e.g., RAM,ROM, disk, etc.) on the system. Each of such one or more systems mayinclude, among other components, a plurality of known components such asone or more processors, a memory system, a disk storage system, one ormore network interfaces, and one or more busses or other internalcommunication links interconnecting the various components.

Data Server Module 1000 may be implemented on a computer systemdescribed below in relation to FIGS. 11 and 12.

In an embodiment, any of the Data Server Module 1000 and/or itscomponents may implemented as objects using object-oriented programmingtechniques. For example, Data Analysis Controller 1024 may be astandalone executable object that instantiates instances of otherobjects such as NC Interface Controller 1006, NC Interfaces 1004, Parser1008 and Machine Info 1016, for example, in response to initialcommunications from one or more NC Controllers 1002. Parser 1008 may beconfigured to instantiate an instance of Analysis Interface Controller1010, which may be a container object, and instances of AnalysisInterfaces 1012. In response to the Analysis Interface Controller 1010being instantiated, Analysis Application 1022 may be instantiated, forexample, by the Analysis Interface Controller 1010.

Data Server Module 1000 is merely an illustrative embodiment of a systemoperable to communicate with a plurality of NC Controllers 1002concurrently. Such an illustrative embodiment is not intended to limitthe scope of the invention, as any of numerous other implementations ofsuch a system, for example, variations of Data Server Module 1000, arepossible and are intended to fall within the scope of the invention.None of the claims set forth below are intended to be limited to anyparticular implementation of such a system, unless such claim includes alimitation explicitly reciting a particular implementation.

Various embodiments according to the invention may be implemented on oneor more computer systems. These computer systems, may be, for example,general purpose computers such as those based on Intel PENTIUM typeprocessor, Motorola PowerPC, Sun UltraSPARC, Hewlett-Packard PA-RISCprocessors, or any other type of processor. It should be appreciatedthat one or more of any type computer system may be used to program amachine tool controller and to analyze the results of executing theprogram according to various embodiments of the invention. Further, thesoftware design system may be located on a single computer or may bedistributed among a plurality of computers attached by a communicationsnetwork.

A general-purpose computer system according to one embodiment of theinvention is configured to program a machine tool controller and toanalyze the results of executing the program. It should be appreciatedthat the system may perform other functions, for example, controlling aCMM or other machine measurement tool, and the invention is not limitedto having any particular function or set of functions.

For example, various aspects of the invention may be implemented asspecialized software executing in a general-purpose computer system 1100such as that shown in FIG. 11. The computer system 1100 may include aprocessor 1103 connected to one or more memory devices 1104, such as adisk drive, memory, or other device for storing data. Memory 1104 istypically used for storing programs and data during operation of thecomputer system 1100. Components of computer system 1100 may be coupledby an interconnection mechanism 1105, which may include one or morebusses (e.g., between components that are integrated within a samemachine) and/or a network (e.g., between components that reside onseparate discrete machines). The interconnection mechanism 1105 enablescommunications (e.g., data, instructions) to be exchanged between systemcomponents of system 1100. Computer system 1100 also includes one ormore input devices 1102, for example, a keyboard, mouse, trackball,microphone, touch screen, and one or more output devices 1101, forexample, a printing device, display screen, speaker. In addition,computer system 1100 may contain one or more interfaces (not shown) thatconnect computer system 1100 to a communication network (in addition oras an alternative to the interconnection mechanism 1105).

The storage system 1106, shown in greater detail in FIG. 12, typicallyincludes a computer readable and writeable nonvolatile recording medium1201 in which signals are stored that define a program to be executed bythe processor or information stored on or in the medium 1201 to beprocessed by the program. The medium may, for example, be a disk orflash memory. Typically, in operation, the processor causes data to beread from the nonvolatile recording medium 1201 into another memory 1202that allows for faster access to the information by the processor thandoes the medium 1201. This memory 1202 is typically a volatile, randomaccess memory such as a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) or staticmemory (SRAM). It may be located in storage system 1106, as shown, or inmemory system 1104, not shown. The processor 1103 generally manipulatesthe data within the integrated circuit memory 1104,1202 and then copiesthe data to the medium 1201 after processing is completed. A variety ofmechanisms are known for managing data movement between the medium 1201and the integrated circuit memory element 1104, 1202, and the inventionis not limited thereto. The invention is not limited to a particularmemory system 1104 or storage system 1106.

The computer system may include specially-programmed, special-purposehardware, for example, an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC). Aspects of the invention may be implemented in software,hardware or firmware, or any combination thereof. Further, such methods,acts, systems, system elements and components thereof may be implementedas part of the computer system described above or as an independentcomponent.

Although computer system 1100 is shown by way of example as one type ofcomputer system upon which various aspects of the invention may bepracticed, it should be appreciated that aspects of the invention arenot limited to being implemented on the computer system as shown in FIG.11. Various aspects of the invention may be practiced on one or morecomputers having a different architecture or components that that shownin FIG. 11.

Computer system 1100 may be a general-purpose computer system that isprogrammable using a high-level computer programming language. Computersystem 1100 may be also implemented using specially programmed, specialpurpose hardware. In computer system 1100, processor 1103 is typically acommercially available processor such as the well-known Pentium classprocessor available from the Intel Corporation. Many other processorsare available. Such a processor usually executes an operating systemwhich may be, for example, the Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT,Windows 2000 (Windows ME) or Windows XP operating systems available fromthe Microsoft Corporation, MAC OS System X available from AppleComputer, the Solaris Operating System available from Sun Microsystems,Linux, or UNIX available from various sources. Many other operatingsystems may be used.

The processor and operating system together define a computer platformfor which application programs in high-level programming languages arewritten. It should be understood that the invention is not limited to aparticular computer system platform, processor, operating system, ornetwork. Also, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art thatthe present invention is not limited to a specific programming languageor computer system. Further, it should be appreciated that otherappropriate programming languages and other appropriate computer systemscould also be used.

One or more portions of the computer system may be distributed acrossone or more computer systems (not shown) coupled to a communicationsnetwork. These computer systems also may be general-purpose computersystems. For example, various aspects of the invention may bedistributed among one or more computer systems configured to provide aservice (e.g., Data Server Modules) to one or more client computers, orto perform an overall task as part of a distributed system. For example,various aspects of the invention may be performed on a client-DataServer Module system that includes components distributed among one ormore Data Analysis Module systems that perform various functionsaccording to various embodiments of the invention. These components maybe executable, intermediate (e.g., IL) or interpreted (e.g., Java) codewhich communicate over a communication network (e.g., the Internet)using a communication protocol (e.g., TCP/IP).

It should be appreciated that the invention is not limited to executingon any particular system or group of systems. Also, it should beappreciated that the invention is not limited to any particulardistributed architecture, network, or communication protocol.

Various embodiments of the present invention may be programmed using anobject-oriented programming language, such as SmallTalk, Java, C++, Ada,or C# (C-Sharp). Other object-oriented programming languages also may beused. Alternatively, functional, scripting, and/or logical programminglanguages may be used. Various aspects of the invention may beimplemented in a non-programmed environment (e.g., documents created inHTML, XML or other format that, when viewed in a window of a browserprogram, render aspects of a graphical-user interface (GUI) or performother functions). Various aspects of the invention may be implemented asprogrammed or non-programmed elements, or any combination thereof.

Having now described some illustrative embodiments of the invention, itshould be apparent to those skilled in the art that the foregoing ismerely illustrative and not limiting, having been presented by way ofexample only. Numerous modifications and other illustrative embodimentsare within the scope of one of ordinary skill in the art and arecontemplated as falling within the scope of the invention. Inparticular, although many of the examples presented herein involvespecific combinations of method acts or system elements, it should beunderstood that those acts and those elements may be combined in otherways to accomplish the same objectives. Acts, elements and featuresdiscussed only in connection with one embodiment are not intended to beexcluded from a similar role in other embodiments. Further, for the oneor more means-plus-function limitations recited in the following claims,the means are not intended to be limited to the means disclosed hereinfor performing the recited function, but are intended to cover in scopeany equivalent or variant of such means, known now or later developed,for performing the recited function. Use of ordinal terms such as“first”, “second”, “third”, etc., in the claims to modify a claimelement does not by itself connote any priority, precedence, or order ofone claim element over another or the temporal order in which acts of amethod are performed, but are used merely as labels to distinguish oneclaim element having a certain name from another element having a samename (but for use of the ordinal term) to distinguish the claim elements

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of using a machine system, whichincludes a machine tool including a probe, a machine-tool controller,drive motors for moving the probe about a workpiece and a computer,comprising the steps of: defining with the computer a measurement pathover a workpiece; generating measuring-machine instructions adapted todrive a coordinate measuring machine according to the measurement path;translating the measuring-machine instructions into machine-toolinstructions in a form to be executed on the machine-tool controller;and transmitting the translated measuring-machine instructions to themachine-tool controller such that the machine-tool controller controlsthe drive motors of the machine tool and thereby moves the probe aboutthe workpiece according to the measurement path.
 2. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein the step of defining includes using adimensional-metrology program.
 3. The method according to claim 2,further comprising collecting measurement signals, transmitting themeasurement signals to the computer and analyzing the measurementsignals using the dimensional-metrology program.
 4. The method accordingto claim 1, further comprising generating control signals for themachine tool based on the step of analyzing the measurement signals. 5.The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of translatingincludes mapping measuring-machine probing cycles to machine-too(probing cycles.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step ofdefining a measurement path includes using one of a dimensionalmetrology program or a computer assisted drafting program to define themeasurement path.
 7. The method according to claim 1, further comprisinggenerating machine tool instructions using the machine-tool controllerto modify the transmitted measuring machine instructions.
 8. A machiningsystem comprising: a machine tool including a motor, the machine tooladapted to receive a probe; a machine-tool controller that executes amachine tool program and translates the program into control signals tocontrol a motor; and a computer in communication with the machine-toolcontroller, the computer including a dimensional-metrology-programmodule and a program-generator module, wherein thedimensional-metrology-program module is configured to generate a set ofinstructions in a form suitable to control the acquisition ofmeasurements by a measuring machine, and wherein the program-generatormodule generates the machine tool program from thedimensional-metrology-program module, and the machine tool program is ina form suitable to control the motor of the machine tool and to bemodified by a machine tool operator. using only the machine-toolcontroller.
 9. A machining system according to claim 8, wherein themachine-tool controller is adapted to receive measurement signals fromthe machine tool and the computer, the machining system furthercomprising an analysis module to analyze data collected by themachine-tool controller.
 10. A machining system according to claim 8,further comprising a server in communication with the machine tool forexchanging data between the machine-tool controller and the computer.